Five Reasons the Survivors Have to Pass Earth By
by stargazercmc
Summary: Five Things. Earth is overrated anyway.
1. Kara

**Disclaimer:** If I owned BSG, Jamie Bamber would be my cabana boy. I'm just sayin'.

Five Things prompt given to me by **kelliferfic**. This came out kind of dark.

* * *

"Approaching the planet, sir." 

"Keep a good distance. I want full scans before we do anything else." Kara Thrace paced the deck._Fifteen years,_ she thought. _The old man, Lee, Helo..._ The only sound in the command center was the quiet hum of checks being done on the planet in front of them. Whether this was from the weight of the moment or from the crew's exhaustion, she couldn't say.

This last stretch of space was brutally empty. Water and food were hard to restock. Morale was low not only on _Galactica_ but also on the 12 remaining vessels carrying what was once the Caprican race. _At least the toasters have left us alone,_ she thought.

A beeping panel broke her away from her thoughts. Lowell, the chief science officer, said, "Everything seems to check out, sir. Breathable atmosphere, inhabitable land masses with drinkable water, lower life signs. No trace of hostiles."

"Stellar?"

Romayo looked up from her sensors. "Sir, the star patterns do match. I think this is... Earth, sir."

Cheers broke out on the bridge. The upturn in mood swept across everyone and Starbuck grinned. "Get me the _Pegasus_."

"_Pegasus_ up, sir." Reardon hands shook just slightly while patching her through.

"Anders," she said. "Get your cute ass over to _Galactica_. It would seem we have some settling to plan."

"Without me?" At the sound of his voice, Starbuck turned to see Lee Adama. Or what was left of him. His once-beautiful face writhed with hanging skin and wriggling objects that she didn't want to see too closely. Choking back her reaction, she whipped around to Stellar but found that she was alone.

"Did you really think the gods would allow you to make it?" the Lee creature said. "You killed me," he said. "You _killed_ me." She backed up in horror until she reached the communications area.

Tripping on the step up, she felt something grab her arm from behind her. She turned. Red light rolled coldly across the eye socket of the Cylon. _No, no, no, no, no, no, no_. She closed her eyes. Bile rose in her throat as she heard the clank of the machinessurrounding her from all sides. She heard the cock of a pistol, felt it placed to her temple. The last thing she heard was the ship jumping. Then, silence...

"Start the scenario again."

Her eyes snapped open and fixed on the blonde woman. Feeling a rising panic, she jerked at the restraints holding her wrists in place and jostled the electrodes attached to her head. When the model of Sharon leaned over her to press a button on the device, Starbuck finally screamed.


	2. Lee

"What do you see down there, Thompson?" Lee Adama asked.

"Sir, I'm not picking up any readings at the Earth settlement. Two life signs off in the ridge, sir. Looks like President Baltar and... Boomer, sir."

_Too late_, Lee thought. _Too late again._ He looked down again at the paper marked CLASSIFIED in his hand.

"Launch the alert fighters. I want those mother frakkers blown from the face of the planet," he said. Thompson thought the calm in Lee's tone scared him worse than what might have happened below.

When they made it to Jupiter colony, Lee resigned.


	3. Baltar

Gaius Baltar was the only human on the bridge of Galactica. Afforded the privilege of being alive, he had plenty of years to recount the various techniques used to pick off the Caprican race. When there were less than 10 people left, he quit writing down their names.

He laughed. Visions of a blonde woman he once loved surrounded him. _I couldn't save our child_, he said. His voice made no sound, so he laughed again. She touched him, reached out and caressed his cheek. She ran her fingers through his hair as if petting a prized broodmare.

_I know, my love_, she said. _But you saved yourself. The betrayer of worlds becomes the survivor._

His laugh was weaker this time. It ended in a moan.

_It's all right, lover. Look outside_.

He glimpsed below at the blue and white planet.

_Earth_, he said? His tone was clear in his head.

_Earth_, she confirmed, as they passed by the simple swirl of blue and white.

By the time the Galactica drove into the nearby star, his laughter was quite splendid.


	4. Laura

_Laura Roslin honestly believed that she would be alive the day they reached Earth, and she was. When the first group from Galactica set foot on the northeastern continent, she insisted on going along. Kneeling with the group in prayer, she thanked the gods for their safe arrival._

The unmistakable surge from a ship-jump woke her. She reached for the glass of water at her bedside. She thought after all of these years traveling with the fleet that she would become accustomed to the movements in space but a full night's sleep was something she hadn't mastered since that day in Caprica.

Heady from the vivid dream, Laura swore she could still smell the moist earth. She could see where the colony would plant their crops. She could see children playing outside of a makeshift school. She saw herself reading by a lake while a calm breeze ruffled the surface of the water.

Laura saw all of these things in her dreams, and she knew she would be alive to see Earth.

And she was. Two days later, Adama called her to his quarters on Galactica. "Madam President, I'm recommending a change in plans," he said.

"What is it, Bill?"

"It would appear that the Cylons have already been here," he said. "This is what's left of Earth."

She took the pictures from Adama. The photos from the first passes over Earth showed no chance of settlement. A frozen wasteland covered the entire planet; there would be no schools here.

"How did this happen?" she said. Her heart shut down long enough to regain her command composure.

"It appears that Earth's outer atmosphere and gravitational proportion were destroyed by some sort of weapon," he said.

"How can you know for sure the Cylons were here?" she asked.

"We're sure." He pointed to a low-flying shot of a Raider partially buried in snow. "We think they're long gone. There isn't any other trace of them... for now," he said.

"Recommendations?" she asked.

"There is another planet just a bit further up. It looks like it used to be gaseous but the change in Earth's atmosphere and gravitational structure seems to have had a larger impact throughout this galaxy," he said. "In short, it looks promising."

"All right," she said. "Does anyone else know this is Earth?" She refused to let her hands shake as she indicated the pictures.

"Standard recon, as far as the pilots know," he said. She nodded.

They opened the first school on "Earth" three months later. Laura declined to lead the prayer.


	5. Helo

Helo reached for the window in the Viper. "Earth," he said.

"Shhhh... Don't try to talk," Boomer said.

"Sharon? What are you doing?" Helo tried to sit up, but he felt his body's reactions were acting as sluggish as his brain's. "Where are we going?" He slumped back down in his seat.

"Trust me. I love you," she said.

He wanted to respond, but the little bit of talking he did made his head pound. He thought he would throw up but managed to hold it back.

Sharon saw his distress and gave him a bottle of water. "Drink this," she said. "I'm sorry that I had to hurt you. I didn't think you would come otherwise."

He spoke quietly. "Why didn't we stay with _Galactica_? They're home. They're going to notice we're missing," he said.

He took small sips of water and glanced at Earth once more before they jumped.

"It doesn't matter," Sharon said. "They're dead already."

He felt a coppery tang in his mouth just before he threw up.


End file.
